SPACE. The Wraith armada goes into hyperspace on its way towards Atlantis.

ATLANTIS. CONFERENCE ROOM. Lots of scientists and marines are being briefed by Rodney.
McKAY: Not only has Teyla been able to ascertain that the Wraith are more interested in Earth than Atlantis, which is ... you know, terrifying, she realised that the hive ships will go right past the only surviving LaGrange point satellite.
ZELENKA: The last of what we assume were dozens of defence satellites destroyed during the Ancients’ last stand with the Wraith.
McKAY (looking annoyed at being interrupted yet again by Zelenka): Yes, yes, yes – the point is, we think we can use it to our advantage.
SHEPPARD: I thought you said it was dead.
McKAY: It is, but we think we’ve learned enough about how it works to bring it back.
ZELENKA: If we are right about what is wrong with it.
McKAY: Yes, of course if we’re right about what’s wrong with it! But if we’re right, and it’s just out of power, the Wraith have simply been ignoring it.
ZELENKA: Our preliminary estimates indicate a single naqahdah generator would be enough to bring it back online.
FORD: Why can’t we use our generators to get the weapons systems of Atlantis working?
ZELENKA: Because those systems were designed to be powered by the Zero Point Module – and the satellite isn’t.
SHEPPARD: And you think it’s powerful enough to take out a Wraith hive ship?
McKAY: According to the Ancient database, it should be able to take out all three when fully charged. Keep in mind that the Ancient technology was far superior – they only lost the war because they were vastly outnumbered.
SHEPPARD: Well, we’re vastly outnumbered!
BATES: And outgunned!
ZELENKA: But they don’t see the satellite as threat.
McKAY: In military parlance, surprise ... is an element on our side.
WEIR: What do you need?
McKAY: The satellite’s fifteen hours away by Puddlejumper. I recommend that we put together a small crew – say myself, Grodin and a pilot.
SHEPPARD: I’ll go.
WEIR: No, Miller can handle it. Major, I need you to keep searching for alternate Alpha sites, just in case this fails.
McKAY: The hive ships will be in range of the satellite in forty-nine hours. We’re gonna need every last second of that time.
(Elizabeth looks around the room.)
WEIR: Questions? (Nobody has any.) OK, let’s get on it. (The meeting breaks up and people start to leave the room.) Well, Rodney, I don’t mean to put any undue pressure, but at this moment, that satellite is the only thing standing between the Wraith and Atlantis.
(She walks away. John stands up and speaks to Rodney as he passes him by.)
SHEPPARD: No undue pressure(!)

INFIRMARY. Teyla is sitting on a bed, with Carson standing on one side of the bed and John on the other. Teyla speaks to John.
TEYLA: I am fine.
SHEPPARD: I’m looking for something a little more enthusiastic than ‘fine’.
TEYLA: I am ready to be put back on active duty.
SHEPPARD: I’m sure you think so but, uh ...
TEYLA (turning to Carson): Tell him I am fine.
BECKETT: She is, Major. I see no further reason she should be kept here under medical supervision.
(Teyla looks at John again.)
SHEPPARD: Alright. You’re back on active duty. (He walks away. Carson pats Teyla on the back as she sighs in relief.)

LAB. Rodney is packing a naqahdah generator into a case which is on top of a trolley. Zelenka is fussing around him, putting cables into the case.
McKAY: OK, I think I can handle this alone, Vredek. Isn’t there something better you could be doing?
ZELENKA: I think I should go.
McKAY: Yes, I agree – go.
ZELENKA: I mean on the mission.
McKAY: Why?!
ZELENKA: Sure, you probably know a little bit more about the satellite than I do ...
McKAY: Generous of you!
ZELENKA: ... but you know a lot more about the city than I do.
McKAY: OK, I think I see where this is going now.
ZELENKA: If, for whatever reason, there is problem there, it should be me, not you.
McKAY: There’s not gonna be a problem.
ZELENKA: Rodney, you don’t know that.
McKAY: If it seems like we can’t fix it, we’ll just turn round and come back. Now I realise I am invaluable everywhere ...
ZELENKA: You know what? Forget about it. I take it back.
McKAY (smugly): Sorry ...
ZELENKA: No!
McKAY: ... you can’t take it back because you’ve just admitted that I am smarter than you are!
ZELENKA (indignantly): I admitted no such thing!
McKAY: It was hard for you to say but the truth shone through and you were compelled to speak!
ZELENKA: You are a miserable little man!
McKAY: Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey, let’s not ruin the moment here, huh? (He closes the lid on the case and then turns to Zelenka. He pauses awkwardly for a moment.) Now ... (he shakes Zelenka’s hand) keep an eye on my city for me while I’m gone, huh?
ZELENKA: Good luck.
McKAY: Right. Right. (He wheels the trolley out of the lab.)

BRIEFING ROOM. Elizabeth, John and Bates are sitting at a table with a laptop in front of each of them. They are studying a list of potential planets for the new Alpha site.
BATES: M85-393?
SHEPPARD: No. We’ve only been there at night and it gets ridiculously hot during the day, so no – not really an option.
WEIR: We wouldn’t be having this problem if the damn Alpha site that we’d picked hadn’t been marked by the Wraith.
SHEPPARD: They’re a real pain in the ass, aren’t they?!
WEIR: Yes they are!
SHEPPARD: How about M4H-212?
BATES: No – crawling with Genii spies.
SHEPPARD: You know that for a fact, Sergeant, or is your spidey sense just tingling?
BATES (smiling): It’s a fact, sir.
WEIR: Here we go: M1M-316. Stackhouse reported lush surroundings, and as far as his team could tell, it seemed uninhabited.
SHEPPARD: I’ll get my team together and check it out.
WEIR: OK, good. Remember, Major, we don’t need ideal. I think we’d all settle for close.
SHEPPARD: I’m on it. (He gets up and leaves the room. Bates follows him.)
BATES: Major. Is Teyla coming with you?
SHEPPARD: You’re not seriously asking me that?
BATES: I think that’s a bad call, sir.
SHEPPARD: Here we go again!
BATES: All I’m saying is, we still don’t fully understand her connection to the Wraith and, in my opinion, I don’t think we should expose her to information we wouldn’t want the Wraith to have – not the least of which is the location of our evac site.
SHEPPARD: The doctor gave her a clean bill of health.
BATES: And that’s good to hear, sir, but if she can’t control how the Wraith use her ...
SHEPPARD (interrupting): You don’t know that.
BATES: That’s right, we don’t! She saw everything they saw – who’s to say they can’t do the same with her, see what we see? If she’s been compromised in any way ...
SHEPPARD: She’s an integral part of my team. Period. End of story. We’re done here. (He walks away.)

LAB. Zelenka is showing something to Elizabeth.
ZELENKA: This is a simulation I’ve put together. It shows how the city will be destroyed once we trigger the self destruct.
(He activates a screen on the wall and he and Elizabeth turn to look at it. It shows Atlantis as large explosions go off in various parts of the city. The city then breaks into large pieces which sink down into the ocean.)
WEIR: I’m so glad you felt I needed to see this(!) I was just thinking all my nightmares needed to be more vivid!
(On the screen, the pieces of the city reach the ocean floor.)
ZELENKA: It’s not going to be enough.
WEIR: What?!
ZELENKA: Our self destruct plan. It’s nowhere near effective enough.
WEIR (gesturing at the screen): Now that seemed pretty effective to me.
ZELENKA: Atlantis is more than just a city. It is an intergalactic spacecraft.
WEIR: Yes?
ZELENKA: Yes, well, Teyla said the Wraith are not interested in destroying Atlantis. They’re coming here to get to Earth. They can only do that by going through the Stargate ...
WEIR: ... which means stealing the city, which is why we have a self destruct in place.
ZELENKA: Yes, but if they are even the least bit resourceful – which I must assume that they are – they can easily reverse engineer their own intergalactic engine from the wreckage on the sea bottom.
WEIR: So we need a bigger bang, break it into smaller pieces?
ZELENKA: Yes, well, that would certainly help – but I’m more concerned about Ancient database – its ability to back up data. It’s incredibly redundant.
WEIR: ‘Incredibly redundant’!
ZELENKA (laughing): Yeah, that one never gets old. But seriously, if the Wraith recover even the smallest part of the Ancient database ... (He trails off and lets Elizabeth work it out for herself. She puts her elbows on the table and sinks her head into her hands.) That is my concern, exactly.
WEIR (lifting her head out of her hands): Alright. How hard will it be to destroy all the database terminals?
ZELENKA: Impossibly hard. We need to figure out a way to delete the Ancient database.
WEIR: Well, can you do that?
ZELENKA: Could find out.
WEIR: OK – find out, but before you wipe anything out, we’re gonna have to consider ...
(At that moment she’s interrupted by Sergeant Bates reporting in by radio.)
BATES: Doctor Weir!
(Elizabeth activates her radio.)
WEIR: Yes?
BATES: We have an unscheduled offworld activation. Major Sheppard is coming in hot!
(Elizabeth runs out of the lab. Zelenka follows her.)

GATEROOM. As alarms sound, marines run into the Gateroom and take up position, aiming their weapons at the Gate. Elizabeth and Zelenka run in.
WEIR: What’s going on?
BATES: They ran into some sort of resistance. I’m thinkin’ Wraith.
WEIR: Wraith?! I thought you said this planet was uninhabited?
BATES: It was!
(John, Aiden and Teyla run backwards out of the Gate. John is firing into the wormhole and continues to do so until the Gate shuts down. Bates runs over to join them.)
BATES (to John): I told you she was a liability, sir! Now I’m not gonna let your personal feelings endanger this facility any longer!
TEYLA: What?!
BATES (turning to Teyla): Look, I’m not accusing you of doing it intentionally, but the Wraith must be getting information from you!
SHEPPARD: What the hell are you talking about? We ran into a ... uh ... (he turns to Aiden) what the hell was that?
FORD: Looked an awful lot like a T-rex, sir.
SHEPPARD (turning back to Bates): Yeah, a T-rex! It wasn’t even a Wraith! So why don’t you check those accusations?
WEIR: I take it you don’t recommend the planet as an Alpha site, Major?
SHEPPARD: Wouldn’t be my first choice. If McKay doesn’t get the satellite online, we’re screwed.

SPACE. The Puddlejumper is heading for the satellite.
MILLER (into comms): Doctor Weir, this is Miller. We’re approaching the satellite.
WEIR (in Atlantis’ Control Room): You’re on the other side of the solar system, Lieutenant. You guys be careful out there.
(In the Jumper, we see that Rodney is dressed in a spacesuit, although he doesn’t have the helmet on yet.)
McKAY: Understood. (He picks up his helmet and walks into the rear of the Jumper, then turns back to face Miller and Peter sitting in the front seats.) OK, close the bulkhead doors.
MILLER: Good luck.
McKAY (nervously): Right.
GRODIN: Good luck.
(Miller activates the control to close the bulkhead doors between the front of the ship and the area where Rodney is standing. Rodney starts to put his helmet on as the doors close. From outside, we see the Jumper approaching the satellite.)

ATLANTIS. CORRIDOR. Sergeant Bates is walking along. Teyla hurries to catch up with him, stopping to hand her rifle to a marine before running after Bates.
TEYLA: Sergeant Bates!
(Bates stops and turns to face her.)
BATES: What is it?
TEYLA: You just accused me of disclosing our position to the Wraith.
BATES: Yes, I did.
TEYLA: Clearly you were wrong.
BATES: That’s yet to be determined, ma’am.
TEYLA: Excuse me?
BATES: Look, I’m willing to accept that you’re not fully in control of what information you give away, but it’s still my opinion that you should not be allowed to move freely around this base of operations.
TEYLA: Perhaps you are not aware, Sergeant, but being accused of serving the Wraith is the greatest insult among my people.
BATES: Oh, I’m aware.
(Teyla elbows him viciously in the face. Behind her, John and Aiden arrive just in time to see what she does.)
SHEPPARD: What the hell’s going on here?! (He grabs Teyla as Aiden runs to restrain Bates, who is heading back towards her for a fight.)
TEYLA: I was simply stating an opinion, Major!
BATES: She attacked me!
TEYLA: And for good reason!
SHEPPARD (pushing Teyla away from Bates): Yeah, what reason would that be?(!)
BATES: My guess would be the Wraith!
(Teyla tries to get at him but John holds her back. Bates is struggling to get past Aiden.)
SHEPPARD: Walk away, Bates.
BATES (protesting): Sir!
SHEPPARD: Walk away!
(Bates shakes himself free of Aiden and points at Teyla.)
BATES: This isn’t over. (He turns and storms off.)
TEYLA (calling after him): I would be disappointed if it were.
(Once he’s sure that Bates is going away, John turns to Teyla.)
SHEPPARD: What the hell are you doing? You don’t go around decking the head of security!
TEYLA: He said ...
SHEPPARD: I don’t care what he said! He says a lot of things. You just stay away from him.
(Teyla glares at him for a moment, then nods in acknowledgement before turning and walking away.)

SATELLITE. The Puddlejumper flies slowly towards a docking port. It docks, and the airlock in the port irises open to reveal an octagonal room inside. Rodney carefully lowers himself down through the airlock, catches hold of a metal ladder on one of the walls and starts making his way down using just his hands. He has the naqahdah generator attached to his suit by a cable and it floats free as he descends. He is panting heavily.
GRODIN (over comms): Are you OK?
McKAY: Yes. Why?
GRODIN: Well, you’re breathing pretty heavily.
McKAY: Yeah, well, I’m feeling a little claustrophobic. How much air do these things hold anyways?
MILLER: Eight hours.
McKAY: Well, that’s enough, right? I mean, even with the heavy breathing? I mean, they would calculate that in, right?
(Peter laughs silently.)
GRODIN: You’re going to be fine.
McKAY: Yeah, that’s easy for you to say – you’re not the one with the eight hours ceiling on the breathing!
(Peter smiles and looks at Miller, who rolls his eyes and grins. Inside the satellite, Rodney gets low enough down into the room to push free of the ladder and float down the rest of the way. His feet gently hit the floor and, as he bounces up a little, he catches onto a ledge and pushes himself across to a small screen. He puts his hand onto the screen but nothing happens. He closes his eyes in disappointment.)
McKAY: It’s completely dead.
GRODIN: Well, we thought as much.
McKAY: I’m gonna hook up the naqahdah generator – see if I can get some life support going. (He grabs the cable that the generator is attached to and starts to pull the generator down to him.)

ATLANTIS. NIGHT TIME. A marine escorts Halling and two other Athosians down the stairs and indicates the way to Elizabeth’s office. Halling nods to his colleagues, who stop, while he goes into the office.
WEIR: Halling, hello.
HALLING: May we speak?
WEIR: Please, have a seat. (They sit down.) How is the evacuation on the mainland coming?
HALLING: We’ll be ready.
WEIR: Good.
HALLING: Doctor Weir. Word is there is a plan in place to destroy Atlantis.
WEIR: There are concerns the Wraith will be able to make it to Earth if the city is left intact – but I assure you that plan will only be executed in a worse-case scenario.
HALLING: Such as three hive ships flying towards Atlantis?
WEIR: We do believe we’ll be able to destroy them before they arrive.
HALLING: I understand you fearing for the wellbeing of your people – but it is not reason to destroy the city of the ancestors. Atlantis is a sacred place, and to even consider destroying it merely for self-preservation ...
WEIR: ‘Merely for self-preservation’?!
HALLING: This place is all that remains of the greatest race ever to inhabit the stars.
WEIR: And you would prefer it fell into the hands of the Wraith?
HALLING: I would have faith that the ancestors would not allow it to happen. They have been able to preserve Atlantis for ten thousand years. Is it not possible ...?
WEIR (interrupting): No, I don’t think it is possible – not if you’re suggesting the Ancients will return in time to save their city.
HALLING: You cannot know their plans for Atlantis.
WEIR: They have made all the plans they are going to make. Now it’s up to us. I thank you for your thoughts, Halling, but I have to do everything I can to make sure the power and technology of Atlantis does not fall into the hands of the Wraith – and, yes, to ensure they never make it to my galaxy.
HALLING: Even if it means sacrificing the future of this one?
(Elizabeth has no answer for him. He looks at her for a moment, then stands up and leaves.)

LAB. Several scientists are busy working on laptops. Zelenka and Elizabeth walk in.
ZELENKA: You know, the idea is simple enough – it’s the execution that is proving to be very difficult.
WEIR: You’re creating a virus?
ZELENKA: Yeah, essentially, yes. A plain old computer virus, once introduced into the system, wipes the database clean. It could be downloaded as part of the self destruct countdown – might even affect the Wraiths’ systems if they try to access it.
(Elizabeth walks across to the wall showing the database and stares at it.)
WEIR: How much of it could we save?
ZELENKA: I’m sorry?
WEIR: Of the database. Now, we brought a lot of hard drives with us – how much could we transfer to our computers?
ZELENKA: You mean, like, back it up – take a copy with us?
WEIR: Yes, exactly.
ZELENKA: Using McKay’s compression codex, I’d say ... maybe seven, maybe eight percent.
WEIR: That’s it?!
ZELENKA: Yes!

SATELLITE. Rodney has got life support running, and is now out of the spacesuit.
McKAY: Here we go!
(He activates something, and lights come on in the room. We see that Peter and Miller have joined him – Rodney and Miller are floating near the top of the room while Peter is at the bottom of the room.)
GRODIN: Primary power online. (He pushes himself off from a wall and floats over to a screen on the other side of the room.) Looks like life support’s now at a hundred percent. I think I found the switch to initialise the gravity.
McKAY: Great – just give me a second to ...
(Peter pushes the switch. The gravity comes on instantly. Rodney, who was floating horizontally and facing the floor, screams as he plummets about twenty feet to the floor. Peter turns and stares in shock as Rodney groans. Miller, who had been hanging onto something when the gravity came on, looks down in horror. Rodney painfully rolls over onto his back.)
McKAY: Oh yeah. Yeah. That’s permanent back damage.
GRODIN: Sorry. I assumed it would come on more slowly.
McKAY: Well, you assumed with my life.
GRODIN: You’ll be fine. It was just a little bump.
McKAY (throwing him a black look): What have you got?
(Peter consults a small hand-held device.)
GRODIN: Looks like every system is back online – except for the weapon.
McKAY: Ah, details. Let’s get to work. (He winces as Miller, who has now made it down to the floor, walks across and helps him to his feet.) Oh, thank you. (Miller pats him on the shoulder. Rodney looks across at Peter.) Thank you(!) Oh! (He turns and stretches, producing a loud scrunching noise from his spine.) Yeah – that’s vertebra damage! That’s back pain!

ATLANTIS. NIGHT TIME. John and Aiden are back in the Conference Room looking at laptops showing planets that they’ve visited.
SHEPPARD: What about M1K-439?
FORD: Which one’s that?
SHEPPARD: The one with all the waterfalls.
FORD: The waterfalls. See, now, why don’t we just call it Planet Waterfall? (John looks at him.) What? I say we should just give ‘em names! (He looks at his laptop again.) Look, we’ve got a list of five planets here. That should be enough potential Alpha sites to get Stackhouse and his team started.
(A marine reports over the tannoy.)
MARINE: Major Sheppard. We have a situation at Generator Station One.
(John and Aiden jump up and hurry out.)

GENERATOR STATION ONE. John and Aiden run in to join the marine.
SHEPPARD: What’s the problem?
MARINE: It’s Bates, sir.
SHEPPARD: What about him?
MARINE: He’s been attacked.
(He shows them into the room where Bates is lying unconscious on the floor with another marine bending over him. John activates his radio.)
SHEPPARD: Get a medical team down here.
(We see Bates’ face. It’s badly bruised and there is blood streaming from his nose.)

INFIRMARY. DAWN. John and Carson walk over to Bates’ bed to join Aiden who is standing at the bedside. Bates is unconscious and has a breathing tube in his mouth.
SHEPPARD: Is he gonna be OK?
BECKETT: It’s still hard to tell. He’s got five broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and the concussion was quite severe.
SHEPPARD: When can we talk to him?
BECKETT: We can’t. I put him in a medically induced coma until the subdural haematoma can be dealt with. We won’t be finding out what happened from him any time soon.
FORD (to John): Teyla and Bates got into it pretty badly yesterday, sir.
SHEPPARD: A fistfight and a beating like this are a long drive apart, Ford.
FORD: I understand that, sir, but they were in a fight; they were both looking to continue it.
(John looks at Carson.)
SHEPPARD: Anything pointing to who did this?
BECKETT: I’m having a forensic exam of both his body and clothing performed right now.
SHEPPARD: Let us know what you find out. (To Ford) Let’s go get her side of the story.

SATELLITE. Peter is examining a laptop.
GRODIN: Well, it’s not a power generation problem. The naqahdah’s pumping out more than enough juice.
McKAY: Well, then, why isn’t it ...? OK. Alright. Let’s just step back here – think about it. This baby is a directed energy beam weapon – it runs off a relatively low-yield charge like our naqahdah generator, so that means it’s gotta be continually building up a charge in some kind of a buffer, or a capacitor, until it’s discharged.
GRODIN: I think I found something like that. (He walks over to another laptop and types.) Yes, here it is. Right now the buffer’s at ninety percent.
McKAY: OK, so power’s getting to the buffer, it’s just not getting to the actual weapon.
GRODIN: Let me see if I can find a diagnostics programme. (He pushes controls on a couple of the satellite’s screens.) There must be one here.
McKAY (looking at his watch): OK, we’ve got twenty-nine hours til showtime, so let’s hope we don’t have to order parts, huh?

ATLANTIS. TEYLA’S ROOM. John and Aiden are speaking with Teyla.
TEYLA: You do not think I had anything to do with it?
SHEPPARD: Of course not.
FORD: You and Bates did get into it pretty good yesterday.
TEYLA: You know me, Aiden. I never would have taken it that far.
FORD: I know, so let’s just see if we can’t rule it out altogether. Where were you last night?
TEYLA: I was here, in my room.
FORD: The whole night?
TEYLA: Yes.
SHEPPARD: So there’s no way of knowing whether you blacked out or not?
TEYLA: I have no way of proving it, no, but I did not leave this room last night – I am sure of it. (Aiden looks at John, who looks at Teyla and nods. Aiden doesn’t look quite so sure.) I did not leave this room.

CONTROL ROOM. Zelenka approaches Elizabeth as she comes out of her office.
ZELENKA: You asked to see me?
WEIR: Stackhouse has found a suitable Alpha site, so, should the need arise, we’ll be able to evacuate.
ZELENKA: Oh, that’s good!
WEIR: That’s not why I wanted to see you. You have to get me more than seven or eight percent of the database. There has got to be a way of taking more with us.
ZELENKA: Maybe nine percent.
WEIR: How do I choose between Zero Point Module research and their work on ascension? Between weapons schematics and their notes on space travel? No matter what we choose here, invaluable information’s gonna be lost, and that is just the information that we’ve deciphered. Now we all know we have barely even begun to scratch the surface. What if we destroy the cure for all disease, or even some piece of information that could lead to the downfall of the Wraith?
ZELENKA: I don’t know what I can tell you. I will try to improve on McKay’s compression ratios, but we are at war, Elizabeth. In war, there are casualties.

SATELLITE. Rodney is typing on one of the laptops and accesses a file.
McKAY: Ah. Schematics, anyone?
(Peter and Miller come over to join him and look at the screen.)
GRODIN: It looks like power runs internally from the buffer to the weapon.
McKAY: I guess our guy took a hit. Must have disrupted the main power conduit.
GRODIN: We need to reroute the power from our buffer to the actual weapon. (He goes to another laptop on the other side of the room.) If we can do that, it will arm.
(Rodney turns round and looks at Peter’s back.)
McKAY: See, now, your masterful grip on the blatantly obvious continues to impress me, Peter!
(Peter turns round and looks at him.)
GRODIN: Thank you(!)
McKAY: Alright. (He turns back to his own laptop and looks at the schematics.) We need to route power around these, uh, damaged circuits. If we can do that, we should be laughing. Alright, I’m disoriented. (He points at some circuits indicated on one of the screens.) Where are these?
(Peter turns round from his own laptop and sighs.)
GRODIN: They’re outside!
McKAY: What?!
GRODIN: Look. (He types and Rodney’s screen gives a better indication of the location of the circuits on the outside of the satellite.) See?
McKAY: Oh, great!
GRODIN: Someone will need to EVA.
McKAY: Yeah, but there’s nothing to hang on to.
GRODIN: I’m not saying it will be easy, or safe.
(The three of them walk towards each other and meet in the middle of the room.)
McKAY: OK, so who goes?
(There’s a moment of silence.)
GRODIN: We could draw straws.
McKAY: Oh, brilliant! OK, Miller, break out the straws!
GRODIN: It doesn’t have to be straws!
MILLER: We could do rock, paper, scissors.
McKAY: OK, on three. (They each raise a clenched fist.) One, two, three. (As the three of them open their fists, we see that Peter has paper, Miller has rock, and Rodney has scissors. They stare at their hands for a moment, then realise the stupidity of what they just did.) OK, obviously rock, paper, scissors doesn’t work with three! Anyone have a pencil?
MILLER: Yeah, I think I’ve got one. (He gets one out of a pocket.)
McKAY: Well, get on with it.
(Miller breaks the pencil into three different length pieces, then turns away from Rodney and Peter as he conceals the length of the pieces in his fist. He turns back to the other two.)
MILLER: OK. Short piece goes.
McKAY (to Peter): You go first. (Peter pulls out a long piece and smiles in relief.) Hmm! Well done. Good for you. (He takes one of the other pieces. It’s very short. He grimaces.) Miller? (Miller holds up the remaining piece. It’s longer than Rodney’s but shorter than Peter’s.) Yeah.
MILLER: You’re the best qualified to fix it anyway, sir.
McKAY: Mmm. Flight of the dead man. Good.

ATLANTIS. DUSK. In Elizabeth’s office, John and Aiden are reporting to her.
SHEPPARD: I know there’s no love lost between her and Bates, but I can’t see her beating the hell out of the guy.
(Aiden doesn’t look so sure. Elizabeth looks at him.)
WEIR: Ford?
FORD: Ma’am?
WEIR: What do you think?
(Aiden looks at John before replying.)
FORD: I worry about what she might have done unknowingly. The whole Wraith connection thing and her nightmares make me nervous.
SHEPPARD: Yeah, well, what are we gonna do about it? Stick her in the Brig? This is Teyla we’re talking about.
(Carson runs into the room.)
BECKETT: We have a situation on our hands.
WEIR: What’s going on?
BECKETT: I’ve completed the tests. I found DNA on Sergeant Bates’ uniform.
SHEPPARD: And it’s not Teyla’s?
BECKETT: No, Major.
WEIR: Who is it?
BECKETT: I ran the tests twice to be certain. It’s conclusive. We have a Wraith in the city.

CONFERENCE ROOM. NIGHT TIME. Marines are gearing up ready to search the city. John walks into the room to join Elizabeth, Aiden, Teyla, Carson and Zelenka.
SHEPPARD: Someone tell me how this is possible. How can the Wraith get inside the city?
FORD: They didn’t gate in.
ZELENKA: The Dart.
SHEPPARD: What?
ZELENKA: The Wraith Dart that scanned us. It made its way through the city, scanning for data. The second it was done, it self destructed.
SHEPPARD: So it beamed into the city.
FORD: Can they do that?
TEYLA: The same technology that is used to sweep people up and into their ships must work in the opposite way.
WEIR: So the pilot of the Wraith Dart scanned us, transmitted his information to the hive ships, beamed down here and destroyed his ship.
ZELENKA: Yes, yes. It seems possible.
TEYLA: That is precisely the time I started to sense the Wraith continually.
SHEPPARD: No wonder you were having nightmares.
WEIR: What’s he been doing here all this time?
ZELENKA: Well, Sergeant Bates was attacked near the naqahdah generator that powers this tower.
SHEPPARD: The Wraith must have been doing recon. Maybe his job is to knock out the power before the hive ship gets here – leave us dead in the water.
FORD: Or to make sure any self destruct plan we had in place wouldn’t work.
WEIR: Maybe a combination of both.
BECKETT: Exactly.
WEIR: What we do know for sure is that we have a Wraith intruder in the city that we have to track down.
ZELENKA: I have an idea.

SATELLITE. The Puddlejumper takes off from the docking port. Peter remains inside the satellite.
MILLER (over comms): We’re away.
GRODIN: It’s not much more than thirty metres away.
(In the rear of the Jumper, Rodney has got back into the spacesuit and is just finishing attaching the helmet.)
MILLER: We’re in position, sir.
(Rodney switches on the helmet’s lights.)
McKAY: OK, Miller, I want you to vent the atmosphere and disengage the artificial gravity in the rear compartment. (Miller does so, and Rodney floats free of the floor.) OK, open the rear hatch. (The hatch opens and we see that the Jumper has landed on another part of the satellite. Rodney starts to pull himself towards the exit.) Oh my!
GRODIN: Rodney? Rodney, did you make it?
McKAY: Haven’t quite left the rear of the Jumper yet.
GRODIN: Do I need to remind you of the time?
McKAY (sarcastically): Yes, please do – remind me. Are we on a tight schedule?
GRODIN: Just pointing out the obvious.
McKAY: OK, thank you. One small step, huh? (He closes his eyes for a moment, then launches himself into space. His inertia carries him towards the satellite. He bounces gently off one section and works his way around a protruding piece of the station to the next section.) One giant leap! (As he pulls himself towards the second section, he is going a bit too fast and thumps hard into the wall of the satellite.) Oh!
GRODIN: Sorry?
McKAY: I made it.
GRODIN: Good!
McKAY: Let’s take a look at this first panel.

ATLANTIS. CONTROL ROOM. Zelenka is moving glass panels around one of the consoles.
ZELENKA: This is a biometric sensor we’ve had online for past month or so. It detects irregularities in biometric rhythm and reports them.
SHEPPARD: Wouldn’t it have picked up on the Wraith?
ZELENKA: Well, it requires significant amount of power, so we’ve narrowed its field of focus to scan solely in the Gateroom, figuring that was the only place that the Wraith ... (he activates the console and data appears on a screen on the wall) or any other alien, for that matter, would likely enter the city from.
SHEPPARD: OK, so that was wrong!
ZELENKA: Yup! Now, if I could only expand the scanning field to ... (He works the controls and a map of the whole of Atlantis appears on the screen. It shows a whole lot of white dots, indicating the humans in the city, and one red dot, which is highlighted.) My God!
SHEPPARD: What?
ZELENKA: That’s him – look.
(The map closes in on that area of the city, showing exactly where the source of the red dot is.)
BECKETT: It works very much like the lifesigns detector, but it’s able to distinguish different lifeforms.
SHEPPARD: That’s him.
ZELENKA: That’s him.
SHEPPARD: You can track him in real time?
ZELENKA: Yes.
SHEPPARD: Ford, Teyla: we need two teams. Let’s go get him.
FORD: Yes, sir!

SATELLITE. Rodney has found an area of the exterior which is badly damaged. It looks as if it has been hit by some kind of weapon.
McKAY: This is bad! Very bad! I’m not sure I can fix this.
GRODIN: You can fix anything.
McKAY: Who told you that?
GRODIN: You did, on several occasions.
McKAY: Well, you’re right. It’s probably a good thing I drew the short straw.
GRODIN: That’s more like it!
(Rodney moves to a nearby panel and pulls it off, setting it adrift in space. He looks inside.)
McKAY: The main power conduit’s been severed. There may be some way for me to reroute it so it’s going through secondary conduits – sort of like a quadruple bypass.
GRODIN: I should be able to help you identify potential secondary conduits from here.
McKAY: We’re only gonna have time to try this once. Let’s get started.

ATLANTIS. John and his team are cautiously making their way through the corridors.
SHEPPARD (into radio): Is he still in place, Doc?
(In the Control Room, Zelenka and Elizabeth are watching the screen. We can see the white dots indicating the teams surrounding the area where the Wraith’s red dot is.)
ZELENKA: Yes. He’s still in the same room. Hasn’t moved since we located him.
SHEPPARD: Let’s hope he’s still sleeping. Ford, Teyla: you in position?
TEYLA (over radio): Almost.
SHEPPARD: My team’s ready. (He gestures to his men to move forward. A couple of them have Wraith stunners.) We’re gonna breach the room at the same time from different directions. If he tries to get out the other door, take him.
FORD (over radio): Understood, sir. We shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes.
SHEPPARD: Alright. Stand by. (He and his team take position outside the door of the room. Moments later, the door opens. The team move cautiously forward but something fires out of the room, knocking everyone to the ground. The Wraith walks out of the room holding a weapon. It snarls triumphantly as it sees the marines lying on the floor.)

SATELLITE. Rodney turns a dial on the control panel.
McKAY: OK. That’s all I can do from here. Is power getting through?
(Inside the satellite, Peter checks the screens.)
GRODIN: Yes, the power’s getting through.
McKAY: Oh, thank God! OK – I’m gonna end this EVA. We’re coming in – we’re gonna pick you up and get the hell out of here!
GRODIN: Sounds like a plan.
McKAY: Alright!

ATLANTIS. CORRIDOR. John opens his eyes, unable to move as the Wraith approaches him. It takes out a small knife from its belt and goes down on one knee beside John, who is helpless to resist as the Wraith tugs his jacket open.
WRAITH: Nothing will keep us from our new feeding ground.
(It pulls back its hand to plunge the knife into John but it is hit by a Wraith stunner blast from behind. It collapses to the floor. John sees Aiden and Teyla coming out of the room that the Wraith had been hidden in. They walk over to John, looking at the Wraith to make sure that it is unconscious.)
FORD: You were on vox, sir. We heard the whole thing and double-timed it.
(Teyla bends down to John, who still can’t move or speak.)
TEYLA: We got it, Major. You’re gonna be OK.

SATELLITE. The Puddlejumper has returned to the docking port and connects to it. Inside, Rodney is still in his spacesuit but has taken off the helmet. He tries to open the rear hatch but it won’t open.
McKAY: Peter. We’re having trouble docking with the satellite. Is there something you can do from your side?
(Inside the satellite, something beeps.)
GRODIN: Oh dear.
McKAY: Oh dear what?
GRODIN: When we re-routed power from the buffer to the weapon, it looks like we inadvertently routed power away from the docking station and the airlock. That’s going to be a problem.
McKAY: Alright, well, we’ll do it manually like we did the first time.
GRODIN: You had a spacesuit the first time – I don’t. The airlock isn’t pressurised.
McKAY: Then we’ll ... Look, I’ll go back and reroute the power. (He grabs his helmet.)
GRODIN: There isn’t time for that. The Wraith ships are too close.
McKAY: Yeah, well I know what I’m doing now.
GRODIN: Rodney. Leave me.
McKAY: Well, we’re not doing that.
GRODIN: Look, get to a safe distance and then come get me once the satellite has taken care of the Wraith ships.
McKAY: Peter ...
GRODIN: It’s the only option and you know it. Besides, this way I can power down the satellite until they’re well within range. Then there’ll be no way for the Wraith to realise we brought it back online.
McKAY (reluctantly): Alright. We’ll cloak, and come back for you after it’s done.
GRODIN: After it’s done, then.

ATLANTIS. DAY TIME. BRIG. The Wraith has been moved to the cell that ‘Steve’ was kept in. Several marines, including Aiden, are patrolling outside the cell. The door to the Brig opens and John and Teyla come in.
FORD: Good to see you on your feet, sir. How’re you feelin’?
SHEPPARD: You know, pins and needles. Hate getting stung by those damn things. Has he said anything yet?
FORD: No sir, not yet.
(John walks over to the cell and looks at the Wraith.)
SHEPPARD: You got a name? (The Wraith doesn’t answer.) OK – we’ll go with Bob. Bob – I’m gonna need to know what you’ve been doing here for the past two weeks, and I’m gonna need to know now.
(The Wraith just sneers at him.)

SPACE. The Wraith armada comes out of hyperspace and flies towards the satellite. The Puddlejumper, cloaked, has moved a safe distance away from the satellite. Rodney, now out of his spacesuit, watches the armada approaching. He speaks into the comms.
McKAY: If you’ve not already powered up, now would be a good time.
(Inside the satellite, all is in darkness but the lights now come on as Peter activates the controls.)
GRODIN: Powering up. (He climbs down a ladder to another part of the room and checks a laptop.) We should be weapons hot in sixty seconds.
(On the Jumper, Rodney activates another set of comms.)
McKAY: Doctor Weir, it’s McKay. Satellite is armed and ready. It should fire within the next minute or so. Keep your fingers crossed.
(In the Control Room of Atlantis, Elizabeth, Zelenka and various scientists and technicians are listening to Rodney’s report.)
WEIR: Fingers crossed. Good luck.

ATLANTIS BRIG. The Wraith snarls disparagingly at John again. John turns away from the cell and walks over to Teyla and Aiden.
FORD: I don’t think he’s in a very talkative mood, sir.
SHEPPARD (quietly): Yeah – I need to know what he’s been doing and whether or not he’s been transmitting back to the hive ships.
FORD: Wouldn’t we have picked up a transmission?
SHEPPARD: We can send secure messages – there’s no reason he can’t.
TEYLA: Maybe I can try and connect with him.
SHEPPARD: I don’t think so.
TEYLA: If the Alpha site has been compromised, Major, we need to know.
(John glances over his shoulder at the Wraith for a moment, then turns back to Teyla.)
SHEPPARD: OK, see what you can do.
(Teyla walks over to the cell, stares at the Wraith for a moment, then closes her eyes and tilts her head back in concentration. She takes a deep breath, then lowers her head again and breathes out before opening her eyes and locking her gaze onto the Wraith. It looks back at her, puzzled.)

SATELLITE. Peter goes over to a screen and activates some controls.
GRODIN: Switching over from manual to automatic firing mode. (The satellite can be heard powering up.) Stand by.
McKAY: Standing by.
(In Atlantis’ Control Room, the crew wait anxiously for news. On the Jumper, Rodney and Miller gaze out of the window, waiting. The satellite’s weapon activates and a beam shoots out, carving its way through one of the Wraith hive ships and cutting it in half. The ship explodes.)
MILLER: Yes!
McKAY: We have a kill!
(In Atlantis’ Control Room, the crew cheer and applaud. A couple of the technicians hug each other. Elizabeth smiles in delight.)
WEIR: We copy that, Rodney.
McKAY: One down, two to go!

ATLANTIS BRIG. Teyla is staring intently at the Wraith.
WRAITH: What are you doing, human? (Teyla continues to stare.) You’re trying to get inside my mind. (It stares back at her just as intently.) Allow me. (It concentrates. After a few moments, Teyla gasps, clutches her head and collapses to the floor, wailing in pain.)
SHEPPARD: Teyla?! Stop it! Shut it off!
(As Aiden rushes to Teyla’s aid, one of the marines deactivates the forcefield around the cell. John steps forward and shoots the Wraith twice with his pistol. The Wraith snarls. Teyla sits up, her link with the Wraith broken.)
FORD: Are you OK?
(Teyla nods.)
WRAITH (to John): My wounds will heal.
SHEPPARD: Yeah, but for how long? (He shoots it five more times. The Wraith falls to its knees.) I need to know what you’ve done to this city. (He shoots it twice more, ejects the cartridge and reloads.) Listen, Bob, I have no problem with killing you whatsoever.

SATELLITE. The remaining Wraith ships head for the satellite. In the Jumper, Rodney looks out the window anxiously.
McKAY: C’mon, hit ‘em again!
(Inside the satellite, alarms are sounding and panels are shorting out everywhere.)
GRODIN: We have a problem.
McKAY: What? What problem?
GRODIN (working the controls frantically): It looks like the circuit we re-routed has overloaded. The weapon can’t fire again. I’m trying to find another pathway.
McKAY: We’re heading back in to pick you up.
GRODIN: Stay exactly where you are!
McKAY: Look, we’re cloaked – they won’t see us.
GRODIN: There’s no time! Just get the hell out of here! (He looks up from the device he was working on as the alarms continue and sparks fly everywhere.) I’m sorry.
McKAY (to Miller): Get us back to that satellite.
(Miller starts to comply but at that moment the two hive ships fire a barrage of weapons at the satellite. The satellite starts to break up, then explodes. Miller and Rodney stare in disbelief.)
McKAY: Oh God!

ATLANTIS BRIG. The Wraith, still on its knees, snarls at John.
SHEPPARD (shouting): I’m not screwin’ around, Bob! Did you sabotage this base or not? (He fires three shots into the Wraith, which collapses to the floor. It raises its head to look at John.)
WRAITH: Those who feed upon you will know what you’ve done to me.
SHEPPARD: Yeah. We’ll see.
FORD: Sir. I think maybe we’ve gone a bit too far.
SHEPPARD: I don’t think we’ve gone far enough.

PUDDLEJUMPER.
McKAY: Atlantis, this is McKay. We have lost the satellite.
WEIR: Did you manage to take out any more ships?
McKAY: Negative. Two of the hive ships are intact. (He gazes out of the window, his face grief-stricken.) Elizabeth – Peter Grodin was aboard the satellite.
(In Atlantis, Zelenka closes his eyes and sinks his head into his hand.)
WEIR (quietly): Understood. What’s the status of the other two?
McKAY: They’re not coming any closer. Looks like they’re rethinking their plans. At the very least, he’s bought us some time.
WEIR: You can’t do any more out there, Rodney. Return to Atlantis.
McKAY: On our way. (He sinks back in his chair, still stunned by what has happened.)
(In Atlantis’ Control Room, Elizabeth turns to one of the technicians.)
WEIR: Put me on city-wide. (The technician does so and a beeping noise goes out on the tannoy. When Elizabeth speaks, her voice is heard all over the city.) May I have your attention, please? This is Doctor Weir. Our plan to stop the Wraith armada has failed. They will make it to Atlantis. Therefore we must begin our evacuation plans. (In the Brig, John and the others listen to Elizabeth’s broadcast. John is still aiming his pistol at the Wraith.) I wish I could tell you all that this is a fight that we will win, but I can’t do that. (The Wraith snarls in delight.) I wish I could tell you that we will find a safe harbour when we leave here. I can’t promise you that either. I can tell you this: up to now, you all have accomplished extraordinary things, and I believe that even in the face of an uncertain future, as long as we stay together we have a chance to continue to do so. Now, we all have our evacuation duties, so thank you – and I’ll see you on the other side. (She turns to the technician and nods, and he disconnects the tannoy. Elizabeth turns to Zelenka.) Doctor Zelenka – put the virus programme on standby.
(Zelenka types on his laptop, which starts to beep. The screen flashes the message “Virus program – standby”.)

BRIG. The Wraith is propped up on one elbow as John glares down at it.
WRAITH: I will tell you this: no matter where you flee, we will find you – just as surely as we will find Earth. And when we do, we will feast.
(John shoots it three more times. It falls back and dies.)